JEARRARD'S HERBAL
Thats enough introduction - on with the plants!
To navigate this site, use the links above, or the detailed links at the bottom of this page.
... out in the garden.
19th September 2010
Crocosmia 'Firejumper' .
As I went to bed last night I was determined to make an early start this morning. I am in the middle of repotting the Sarracenia seedlings
and I wanted to get the job finished. I am amazed by how easy it is to turn over in the morning and let the world attend to its own affairs for another hour or so!
The Sarracenia did eventually get potted. In the afternoon I cleared all the unwanted junk from the spare bedroom and introduced it to the bonfire
before my resolve weakened.
Does anybody want a broken bedside table - too late!
And so to 'Firejumper'. A recent American introduction, everybody has been raving about it but it has been a bit feeble here and I was beginning
to think there was a problem with translation. Perhaps 'Fire Fodder' would suit it better, but I was wrong. This year it has been magnificent, flowering with the
relentless enthusiasm of a cheerleader at a half time show and making me feel like a curmudgeonly yokel. Good plant.
19th September 2010
Hedychium densiflorum .
And what to make of these Hedychium. I really don't know. Some years ago, before the waistband on these underpants started to fray, I did a series of hybrids
between the deciduous species of Hedychium. I say 'hybrids' but I have no clear evidence that any of the seedlings are actually hybrids,
they all resemble the female parents. I have assumed that they all self pollinated while I was trying to do the business.
This group of seedlings were raised from H.densiflorum 'Assam Orange' and they should all be deep orange like the parent, but they aren't.
I am perplexed, they are all this soft salmon colour. I pollinated them with H.spicatum (at least that was the intention) but I can't honestly see any sign
of it in these seedlings,
just the unexpectedly pale colour, which they all have (there are about 50 of them surviving).
I think this is just H.densiflorum being odd. I was going to compost them, but now I am going to plant them out and see what happens
(I say 'now', I mean 'eventually'!)
They are clearly hardy, they have come through two bad winters now unprotected in tiny pots.
19th September 2010
Hosta yingeri .
I have had a few bursts of passion for Hostas over the decades. It starts with enthusiasm for something that looks new ('Tattoo' and 'Red October' triggered the last
little spate of mindless drooling) and ends when I realised that I am looking at the same old slug salad with a new name.
Every time I seem to get one or two new
things that stay the course. 'Birchwood Parky's Gold' just keeps going. 'Hydon Sunset' has hung on through adversity, and I would miss it now if it suddenly wimped away.
Most recently it has been Hosta yingeri, a recently named species from Korea. Small growing with tough leaves that spread out over the ground
and these wonderful heads of lilac flowers.
It is really distinct and quite delightful. No doubt the breeders are already out there trying to add gold leaves and inspiring variegations. As any slug will tell you,
a salad should charm the eye as well as the palate.
19th September 2010
Nerine 'Salmon Supreme'.
I don't think I am still shocked by nudity (though if there's anybody out there keen to give it a try, I could do with a laugh). Fur-less cats are mildly disturbing,
and there is a breed of chicken with no feathers (you'll have to make up your own jokes about that one), but it is only mildly surprising.
Nerine sarniensis and
its legion of offspring produce their autumn flowers without the protection of leaves. The scapes burst out of the tops of the bulbs, sometimes before they
are even planted and then do their very best to be noticed.
This may well be 'Salmon Supreme', but it is from a mass produced stock so the fact that it was labelled 'Salmon Supreme' is almost irrelevant. 'Rose Princess'
and 'Blanche' from the same source were the same colour. It is worth mentioning that the picture is lying about the shade of orange. I am trying out a different camera,
and it seems to have a little bit of a crisis when trying to record the brightest reds and oranges (and you should see what it did to an almost black Streptocarpus
- in fact, when I get this years update finished, you will see, and laugh mightily). This is really the most alarming orange you can imagine. Think traffic cones
without the softening white stripe. Think of a vibrant redhead with a spray-on tan eating orange Smarties under a sodium street light. Think of any of those things
and you are falling far short of the chromatic unarmed combat of Nerine early on a sunday morning.
Can't imagine why I thought of having a bonfire.
To find particular groups of plants I grow, click on the genus name in the table above. Click on the "Index" box at the top of the page for the full list.
I have a lot of good intentions when it comes to updating this site, and I try to keep a note
about what is going on, if you are interested.
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